


He'll Make It

by Kerry_0506



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-15 01:00:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4587045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kerry_0506/pseuds/Kerry_0506
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the IMF is reinstated, Jane returns to see her old team. Sadly, her encounter with Benji results in a heartbreaking revelation about what happened in her absence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He'll Make It

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: Jane Carter meeting up with the IMF boys and finding out what happened to Benji in Rogue Nation.

It felt good to be back. She had been away on a deep cover mission when she received word that the IMF had been shut down and remained where she was to finish what she started. It was a long six months, but now that she had been informed that IMF was back up and running, she was home and it had never felt so good. After a good night’s sleep, she decided to visit HQ to see how Ethan and the others were doing. She had heard through the grapevine that they were to blame for the IMF being reinstated so she figured that she at least owed them a thank you.

She found Benji first, standing in the break room making himself a cup of coffee. She had always been so fond of Benji, ever since she first met him after his field exam. He had always been so wide eyed, so optimistic. He found a reason to smile in any situation and would do his best to give everyone else a reason to smile too. He was a bright spot in her life, particularly after she lost Trevor, so she was glad to find him here. She had missed his presence.

Quietly, she crossed the room and approached him from behind, wanting to surprise him. She reached around and gently covered his eyes, however before she could say “Guess who”, things went to hell. Suddenly, Benji was spinning around, fist balled and arm swinging out in a strong right hook. Luckily for Jane, she had always prided herself on her fast reflexes and she caught his wrist in her hand just before it connected with her face.

“Benji, what was th-” She cut herself off when she saw the moment of realisation in Benji’s eyes and the next thing she knew, he was sliding down the kitchen counter until he was sitting on the ground, knees bent up to his chest.

“I’m sorry… Bloody hell, I’m so sorry, Jane.” One hand came up to cover his eyes, his posture closed off and she sensed that he might have even been fighting back tears. His breathing was becoming rapid and shallow, chest rising and falling all too fast and she dropped down next to him with a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Benji, deep breaths, ok? Deep breaths, honey.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a familiar figure rushing over and once she felt Ethan settling beside her, she turned to face him.

“Benji? What happened?” Ethan asked, glancing between the technician and Jane.

“I have no idea, I surprised him and he took a swing at me.” She replied, concern growing within her at high speed. Both agents knelt next to him until finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Benji’s breathing returned to normal and the blond sagged against the counter.

“I’m ok… I’m good. I’m sorry about that, Jane.” Benji’s voice was a little shaky and Jane ran her hand over his hair.

“It’s fine, Benji.” she replied, offering him a small smile. Offering him a hand, she helped him to his feet and led him to the table, making sure he was sitting down comfortably. “Will you be ok here for a minute?” When Benji nodded in response, she turned to her right. “A word, please, Ethan.” The pair rose to their feet and moved from the break room into a nearby office, still allowing them to keep an eye on their friend.

“Ok, you mind telling me what that just was?” Jane asked once the door was closed, pointing to where Benji sat. “Because that man right there, the man who almost had a panic attack when I gave him a surprise, is not the same man I said goodbye to eight months ago.” She saw the way Ethan’s shoulders sagged, the emotions that seemed so raw on his face and she knew that something awful had happened. “What happened to him, Ethan?”

Running a hand through his hair, Ethan sighed and leant against the wall, trying to find a way to explain. “Remember I told you about the Syndicate?”

“The terrorist organisation that-”

“Yes, that no one believed me about.” Ethan replied, averting his gaze, finding a spec of fluff on the carpet to stare at. “Benji helped me tracking down their leader, Solomon Lane; he was the only one who really trusted me on it. We were closing in on him, had information that he needed to continue his work. Lane abducted Benji to force me to give him what he wanted.” He heard Jane’s sharp intake of breath at the revelation, not looking forward to what would come next.

“What did they do to him?” she asked, heart aching for her friend.

“They… They strapped a bomb to his chest and forced him to a crowded restaurant and made him sit there waiting for me.”

“Jesus…” Jane covered her mouth with a hand, feeling sick to the stomach at the thought of Benji going through that. Sure, their jobs were dangerous, but when something like this happened, especially to someone like Benji…

“It was my fault.” The admission from Ethan confused Jane, her brown eyes searching Ethan’s face for what he meant. “Lane took him to get to me. He knew that Benji was important, he knew that I would do anything to protect him. I tried to make him leave, I knew it was too much of a risk letting him get involved but he insisted and I backed down. I should have pushed him more, this wouldn’t have happened, he wouldn’t be like this.”

“Hey, Ethan, none of this is your fault, ok?” Jane stepped over to him, taking one of his hands in her own. “You and I both know how stubborn Benji can be. He cares about you a lot, there’s no way he ever would have left you to fight them alone.”

Ethan recalled Benji’s words in Vienna.

_“I am a field agent, I know the risks.”_

To him, just because Benji knew the risks didn’t mean he should have to face them. But he knew that Jane had a point. Benji was a grown man, if he wanted to stay with Ethan, he would have stayed whether Ethan wanted him to or not. But that still did not stop him from feeling some form of guilt deep inside of him.

“Yeah. It’s just difficult seeing him like this. He’s always so-”

“Positive, optimistic, happy.”

“Yeah. He’s just- he doesn’t deserve this.” Ethan looked out, seeing that Benji was now back making his coffee.

“He’ll get through it. Just like I got through after Trevor and you after Julia.” Jane placed a hand around Ethan’s shoulders and gave him a half hug. “But we just have to be there for him. As long as he knows that he can come to us, then that’s all we can do. He’ll make it.”

Ethan gave a weak smile and nodded. “Yeah. He will.”


End file.
